Foundry sand



Patented May 23, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUNDRY SAND Otis L. Jones, J oliet, and Jesse L. Essex, La Grange, Ill., assignors to The Illinois Clay Products Company, Joliet, Ill. a corporation of Illinois No Drawing. Application July 19, 1937, Serial No. 154,466

4 Claims. (Cl. 22-488) This invention relates to foundry sands and having a high carbon content, such as asphalt, among other objects aims to improve the qual road oil, cracked residuum, coal tars, and the ities and methods of tempering of foundry sands. like.

The nature of the invention may be readily un- By decreasing the surface tension of the water 5 derstood by reference to one illustrative material film surrounding the grains of sand and particles 5 embodying the invention and described in the folof bonding clay, it is possible greatly to retard the lowing specification, loss of moisture. Indeed the rate of moisture loss Molding or green bond sands generally conseems to be roughly proportional to the surface tain a bonding material in the form of a clay-like tension of the water film. The use of an oil-insubstance which in moist condition serves to bond Water emulsion not only reduces the surface ten- 1 the grains of said together while maintaining the sion of the water film but greatly aids in the ability pervious condition necessary for the escape of to wet the surfaces of the sand grains and Cl gases, etc. In so-called natural molding sands, particles. The Particles 011 pp a to ncrease the bonding material (about 30% of combined the bonding power between the water film and the clay and silt) is naturally present. In synthetic sand grains and clay particles, thereby retarding 15 molding sands, it is added to ordinary unbonded ubseq n evap ra ion Th particles of oil in sands. Because of their superior bonding qualthe emulsion seem not only to supplement the ities, highly colloidal clays such as bentonite and bonding function of the Water film but to cause beidellite are used in synthetic molding sands, the water film to function with maximum effect.

thereby greatly reducing the amount (from 4 to The oil particles also apparently cooperate in 20 10%) used and improving the porosity of the eliminating the film of air around the grains of sand and securing other well-known advantages. sand and clay particles which interfere with maxi- In addition, a small amountof sea coal '(i. e. mum bonding effect. Whereas water tempered a finely pulverized soft coal) is added to the sand molding sand will lose from 50 to 60% of its to prevent burning of the sand on the casting moisture in a few hours, sand tempered with the and to improve the surface of the casting. The aforesaid emulsion will lose only about or less sea coal functions both to create a cushion or of its moisture after an exposure for three days. blanket of gases adjacent the hot metal and to In normal ope a Where e and is exposed leave a carbon deposit on the face of the mold. for a few hours from the time of tempering to Reduction in the rate of moisture loss is of great the time of use, there is no noticeable loss of 30 advantage since it insures proper bond strength moisture in emulsion tempered sand. at the time of casting despite the lapse of time In making an emulsion of this character, any since tempering the sand. For example, ordioily substance which is insoluble in water is disnary synthetic molding sand, although it requires persed in water to form an oil-in-water emulonly about 50% of the tempering water necession. Two types of emulsifying agents may be 35 e y for a u a molding Sand, 10565 m 50 employed: triethanolamine with oleic and/or of its tempering ure When left exposed stearic acids; or, a highly colloidal clay such for several hours. This obviously-greatly weaks b nt nit r beid llit ens the bond and substantially increases the like- The following emulsions are illustrative; lihood ofan imperfect casting. 40

For the foregoing and other reasons, it is highly Parts by weight desirable not only to maintain a constant moisture content but to retard loss of moisture. Syngg sfgg Oily Tm thetic molding sands bonded with beidellite remate- Oleicacid Clay ethapol- Water 5 quire even less tempering water than those bonded with bentonite, despite the fact that a higher per cent of beidellite (6 per cent as against 4 per K 89 8 3 100 cent) must be used to secure the same bonding i si t i t i j 33 3 -515mm... i 138 strength. D0 2 40 We have discovered that reduction in the 50 amount of tempering moisture and retardation In preparing the foregoing s o s, e roof loss of moisture may be effected by the use of sene, light fuel O l or asp alt are mixed in one an oil-in-water emulsion and that sea coal and container with the oleic (or stearic) acid and the its attendant difiiculties may be avoided by emwater and triethanolamine are mixed in another ploying an emulsion of an oil or oily substance container. After the latter ingredients are thor-r 55 oughly mixed, the oil-oleic acid mixture is added and vigorous agitation maintained until a stable emulsion results. When clay is used as an emulsifying agent, the asphalt, road oil, heavy fuel oil, coal tar, etc., are added in warm condition F. or less) to a slurry formed of the clay and water and agitation maintained until a stable emulsion results. Unless additional water is necessary in a given case the emulsion may be used in the creamy consistency in which it is prepared. Preferably; the water content should be adjusted by adding water to the emulsion.

As stated above, emulsions of asphalt and other oily substances containing a high percentage of available hydro-carbon may also serve to supplant sea coal. In such cases the asphalt or its equivalent will decompose to provide cushioning or blanketing gases and to leave a residue of carbon on the surface of the mold, thereby preventing the burning of sand on the casting and improving the surface of the casting. The carbon in the asphalt practically entirely resides in-volatile constituents and therefore may be used in much smaller amount than .sea coal to serve the same purpose. Unlike sea coal, it leaves no residue to clog the pores in the mold to impair the quality of the sand for re-use.

In reconditioning the sand with asphalt-water emulsion, the additional asphalt replaces that burned away in the mold. Thus the process of retempering the sand eliminates the further operation heretofore necessary, of adding other sea coal to replace that burned away in the mold.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the details of the illustrative construction since these may be variously modified. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all features of the invention be used conjointly, since various features may be used in different combinations and sub-combinations.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1'. The method of green sand molding which is characterized by forming a carbon deposit on the surface of the mold by incorporating in the molding sand a small amount of fluid hydrocarbon, such as emulsified asphalt, having a high carbon content and low residue; and causing said asphalt to decompose under the action of heat as the metal is poured into the mold to evolve blanketing gases and to leave a carbon residue .on the surface of the mold without clogging the pores in the sand.

2. The method of providing carbon bearin cushioning gases in green sand molding without clogging the pores in the sand which is characterized by incorporating in the sand a small amount of material having a high carbon content, such as asphalt, and effecting uniform distribution of such small amount throughout the sand by adding it thereto in emulsion form; said asphalt being adapted to decompose under the heat of the metal as it is poured into the mold to" evolve blanketing gases and to leave a carbon deposit on the surface of the mold without clogging the pores in the sand.

3. The method of distributing a small amount of carbon bearing material in green molding sand which is characterized by employing asphalt or other high carbon content oils in a water emulsion and increasing the bulk of the fluid to effect a uniform distribution by employing suflicient water to temper the sand, said asphalt being adapted to decompose without leaving a substantial residue to clog the pores of the sand to provide cushioning gases and a carbon deposit on the surface of the mold.

4. The method of incorporating carboniferous material in sand for green sand molding which is characterized by distributing a relatively small amount of material having a, high carbon content and low residue, such as asphalt, in the sand by the use of an asphalt in water emulsion; and employing sufficient water in the emulsion to temper the sand thereby to effect uniform distribution of the asphalt throughout the sand; said asphalt being adapted to decompose under the heat of the metal to evolve cushioning gases to provide a carbon deposit on the surface of the mold without substantially clogging the pores of the sand.

OTIS L. JONES. JESSE L. ESSEX. 

